TRAVEL..........STORIES OF MEXICAN LIFE..........& MORE

Short Revies of Favorite Books on Mexico & Travel.

As a long-time travel junkie, I can vouch first-hand that the armchair or actual traveler can never get enough to read on a country that has piqued his or her interest. And during those times you are actually traveling, nothing makes the interim pass more agreeably than a good read.

Since this is the season for giving, treat the vagabond on your gift list (or yourself) to one of these volumes. This is not by any means an all-inclusive list. They just happen to be some of my favorites that are available from Barnes & Noble or Amazon or easily ordered through your favorite bookstore.

VIVA MEXICO! A Traveller's Account of Life in Mexico by Charles Macomb Flandrau (first published in 1908 and re-issued sporadically over the years)

The fact that the author is a fellow St. Paulite has nothing to do with my opinion that, bar none, this is the best book about Mexico.

Flandrau's classic was long a volume requiring a laborious search through used bookstores but no more. Eland Books, a small British publishing firm dedicated to reissuing travel classics, has come to the rescue and as of August 2004, this volume can now be ordered from Barnes & Noble. A 1985 re-issue can be found on Amazon.

VIVA MEXICO! is Flandrau's description of his intermittent five year residency on his brother's coffee plantation near Jalapa at the turn of the century. It's hard to believe that a book published in 1908 can be applicable to the Mexico of the 21st Century and to the years in between but it's true.

The fact remains, VIVA MEXICO! continues to describe not only events that could more or less happen today but also an enduring quality to the country itself that even the proliferation of Wall*Marts dotting the countryside cannot dispel.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Read it in the same relaxed, non-critical way that Flandrau observed his temporary home, remembering that the 'politically correct phrase' was not invented in 1900. And enjoy the book the same way the author obviously enjoyed his time in the country.

Maybe, like me, you'll come back to it again and again. The chapter on 'Don Juan Entertains' is sure to encourage a chuckle through many a re-read.

A VISIT TO DON OTAVIO: a Traveler's Tale of Mexico by Sybille Bedford

This travel narrative of Bedford is a real hoot. It details in enviable style a Mexico now sadly or gratefully ensconced in the past.

The changes that have occurred during the twenty years from the time that Bedford visited Mexico in the early 50's and when we set foot here in '72 are simply incredible. For someone visiting the country for the first time today, the narrative will appear totally unreal.

Anyone visiting or living in the places she describes will marvel at the change. And if, like me, you bemoan the demise of the passenger train in this country, read her narrative of the journey to Mazatlán and you won't feel so bad.

The wry humor of this Brit is a match for the situations she either places herself in or is thrown into. A great read.

TRAVELERS' TALES GUIDES MEXICO: True Stories of Life on the Road edited by James O'Reilly and Larry Habegger.

Ordering TRAVELERS' TALES MEXICO once we were settled in the country made it a fascinating read. Reading the tales for Italy and Tuscany before visiting the boot was an effective introduction to the country; one that prepared me better than any guidebook for my continuing odyssey with the country my grandparents abandoned a century ago.

THE READER'S COMPANION TO MEXICO edited by Alan Ryan

Well-known writers like Graham Green, D.H. Lawrence and John Steinbeck combine with 24 other authors to let us in on how they saw Mexico from 1885 to 1978. This is indeed a jaunt into Mexico‘s history without the tedious read of a scholarly tome. Flandreau, Bedford and Theroux, three of the authors reviewed here, have excepts from their books included in this compilation.

CONSIDER THIS SEÑORA by Harriet Doerr (the same author of the award-winning book, STONES FOR IBARRA)

The lives of five foreigners and the Mexicans of a small village are intertwined in the middle of the desert far from a typical Gringo Gulch hangout. There is much of the stark reality of the country interspersed with the amorphous beauty to be found here.

Definitely not a volume from the Chamber of Commerce or the local Bienes Raices office, it was for me a fascinating portrayal of the how and why distinct people would choose to live in such an outpost and how they dealt with that decision over a five- year period.

But more than a fictional expat narrative, it was a hauntingly beautiful and sometimes disturbing account of the country. Like Mexico itself, it can repulse but always draw you back.

If you're interested in Mexico, you can't go away without reading at least one book on the Virgen of Guadalupe. THE ROAD TO GUADALUPE by Eryk Hanut (hardcover only ) is one of the best.

Obscure historical facts are combined with a rich travel narrative to make this volume an informative and engaging read.

A PLACE WHERE THE SEA REMEMBERS by Sandra Benitez

Like several other books written in English by Mexican-American authors (RAIN OF GOLD by Victor Villaseñor and DAYS OF OBLIGATION: An Argument with my Mexican Father by Richard Rodriquez being two memorable examples), I had the impression I was reading this volume in Spanish. There is a certain quixotic, surrealistic quality to the words rather characteristic to books written in Spanish.

More than a character study of the interwoven stories of a group of interrelated individuals, I found the book gave me a wonderful feel for the country itself.

And I can never forget Remedio's memorable observation, ‘It's stories that save us.'

Nothing beats the romantic lure of rail travel. The majesty and glory of the old St. Paul Depot is indelibly etched in my mind and even an eight-hour trip to Chicago years ago on an overbooked train when I was wedged in the bathroom with my mom and a whole crew of other females cannot dispel this notion.

The reality of train travel, for me, can never replace the illusion. In my mind the Eurorail Pass I clutched in my sweaty hand made my first trip to Europe in 2002 memorable. Even the much maligned Trenitalia was unable to dissuade me of my enchantment with this almost extinct form of transportation as we traveled from one end of the boot to another.

Therefore, I'm a sucker for a vicarious trip anywhere on the rails.

Paul Theroux , a king of train travel narration, describes trips that would turn me mean fast if I was his travel companion but visualizing these journeys second-hand is great fun.

Reading THE OLD PATAGONIAN EXPRESS as we spent the night on the granite bench by the bathroom in Milano Centrale managed to turn discomfort into an ‘adventure' and even a brief moment of one-upmanship. In his odyssey from Boston to southern Argentina, Theroux never once describes spending the night on a bench in a train depot.

STANGER ON A TRAIN: Daydreaming and Smoking Around America With Interruptions by Jenny Diski

This British writer sees the U.S. through the haze of smoking cars from east to west. One wonders if only smokers are characters because the interesting encounters only appear to happen when she's lighting up. For a non-smoker, I have to admit to an almost morbid fascination of her life with and without nicotine.

Like Mary Morris in NOTHING TO DECLARE, Diski interjects a good deal of personal angst in the volume but the portraits she paints of her fellow travelers makes one want to head for the nearest ticket office.

In fact ever since reading the book, I have toyed with the idea of taking the train from Pablo's Peace Corps Reunion next year in California to the new lackluster St. Paul Depot to see if the aura of my early train traveling days still exists.

EXPAT: Women's True Tales of Life Abroad, edited by Christina Henry de Tessan

As opposed to a traditional travel essay, EXPAT taps into the reality of living abroad. It's a candid account of both the joys and frustrations and the lessons learned from a culture not your own.

A friend classified some of the narrators as ‘a bunch of whiners' but what I liked about the book was its honest approach to living in another country and coming to grips with the challenges presented. This is not a volume to give you the warm fuzzies of travel brochures but rather to set you to thinking.

LIFE AS A FEMALE NOMAD: Living at Large in the World by Rita Golden Gelman & WITHOUT RESERVATIONS: The Travels of an Independent Woman by Barbara Steinbach

Two middle-aged women who turned their lives totally around by taking off in their 40's for points unknown, narrate their adventures.

Gelman's is a continuing odyssey, as she no longer has a permanent home but rather travels the world spontaneously on a relatively shoestring budget.

Steinbach's journeys are to more traditional locales with a large suitcase in tow as opposed to a backpack. Her view of the world from hotels and apartments is different from Gelman's but both are fascinating reads.

These two books tell a tale of venturing out into the world on two budgets and with two different philosophies of travel but share the same premise. It's never too late to find the adventurer lurking in any of us.

Gelman, by the way, has a web site: www.ritagoldengelman.com where you can keep up on her ongoing journeys and check out her travel journals.

You can't go wrong with any of these books but if you have to choose, go for the first and the last two.

And if you decide to order on line, you can go to www.laurelpoetry.com and order from their Amazon link that appears at the bottom of the 'Publications' page. Laurel Poetry is a cooperative of 23 graphic artists and poets and the organization receives a percentage of any Amazon sales that originate from their website.

In this age of conglomerates and a preoccupation with the bottom line, it's nice to see a small, artist-operated business surviving.

Here's a line I like from one of the members (an old/new friend...someone you meet recently but for whom you feel the same kinship that years of friendship bring). She quotes an unlisted source as describing poetry as 'language leaning toward silence.'

In future feature articles, I'll review the books put on my own wish list this year and ordered for the holiday season.